Grabar-Kitarovic considers Dublin Regulation dead

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said on Wednesday that the Dublin Regulation, which determines the EU Member State responsible to examine an application for asylum seekers seeking international protection who have flooded Europe in the largest migrant crisis since World War II, de facto is no longer in force.

Asked by reporters why Croatia was not implementing the Dublin Regulation, even though Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic had said that if there were around 4,000 migrants in Croatia, there would not be any problem in caring for them and registering them according to the regulation, the President reiterated that the solution was to protect the Turkish-Greek border and that Croatia is not the first country of entry nor the first EU member state migrants are entering.

Before entering Croatia, they pass through several countries that are classified as safe, from Greece through Macedonia to Serbia and all the formalities and registration should be conducted when they enter the EU, that means Greece, she told a press conference after a meeting with Slovak President Andrej Kisko, adding that Croatia had to register everyone that enters the country for national security reasons.

Minister Ostojic's statement referred to the presumption that a total of 4,000 migrants would enter Croatia however, many, many more have done so, she said.

The two presidents were asked whether Greece should remain in the Schengen zone or be ousted as can sometimes be heard from the EU.

Greece is a member of the EU and the Schengen and eurozone and we should do everything in our power for it to remain that way. The Greek border is also our border and we all - the EU and Greece - need to find a solution to protect the border, Slovakia's President Kiska said and President Grabar-Kitarovic agreed entirely.

Beirut (dpa) - Syrian government forces and their allies advanced deeper into the shrinking rebel-held enclave in eastern Aleppo on Wednesday, seizing the Old City, while demanding the armed opposition groups leave the area.